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Hailed as the 'Simcity Killer', Cities: Skylines has enjoyed ample time under a massive spotlight since it exploded into popularity after its release four months ago (read our review here). The studio behind the city-building simulator, Colossal Order, has been hard at work ever since – pushing out a free content update for Cities: Skylines two months ago – and has now announced its first full expansion pack, entitled After Dark.

The news comes after the publisher accidentally had its latest project, Stellaris, leaked by Steam a day before it was due to be announced. This time, however, the Gamescom-based reveal went completely according to plan.

Most will have guessed correctly from the name that the expansion will introduce a day-and-night cycle. The After Dark expansion pack will feature plenty of new nightlife-based content, including new buildings like clubs, restaurants, and bowling alleys which will don different appearances as the sun sets. Paradox Interactive has confirmed there will be more unannounced building types that will thrive in their neon-lit nightlife system, but they haven't revealed exactly what these buildings will be as of yet.

Transportation will also receive a fairly robust update in content, with new features like dedicated bus lanes and bike paths being added to the road system. Police Stations will now also visibly transport prisoners to prisons, and an all-new taxi industry will thrive as partrons leave bars and clubs at night – cabs will also hover around transit hotspots like cargo hubs and airports for an added touch of realism.

Players will also get to enjoy some new shoreline-oriented businesses like marinas, beach bars and fishing tours, which will certainly help make some more pleasant looking coastal city areas. These will be mainly daytime-based buildings though, so all of them will be quiet during the night.

Fans have been questioning the lack of a night cycle since the release of the game, so it's nice to know Colossal Order has kept an open-ear to fan requests. The expansion sounds like it places a heavy emphasis on such nightlife-based events, but there's also a strong focus on general transportation improvements and even new chirps for Chirpy, the in-game Twitter-esque social media lookalike.

Regardless of where the focus of gameplay really lies in the expansion, we're excited to see what Colossal Order can bring to the table with After Dark, and we'll probably get some sweet new fan-made videos out of it too.

What do you think of the After Dark expansion, Ranters? Do you think it'll add excitement to the gameplay, or is a nightlife expansion not what you were looking for?

The Cities: Skyline After Dark Expansion will launch later this year for PC, Mac and Linux. Though the core game was recently confirmed to make its console debut for Xbox One at an undetermined time, the expansion hasn't been confirmed for console yet.